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MP40 Placement + Aquascaping Help/Advice

1109 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  McPuff, 
D
So right now, I have each of my MP40's basically about center of my 125 gallon on either side, about 5.5" down from the top of the tank.

Working on setting up my aquascaping, trying to go basically for two larger piles on either side, with a open space in the middle, and at least 3-4" between glass & rock on all sides.

Do I need to move the MP40's closer to the front, so that they aren't forcing water into the LR which will eventually have corals or other life on them? Or is it okay to build up the LR and have one or so pieces right in front? Would the corals that like high flow go well there?

I have a split return pointed at a very slight angle aimed at the front glass, and plenty of flow (1500gph overflow box & a 1000gph return pump or higher), in case that's relevant.
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M
You don't want to point your pumps right at the rock as you'll essentially block the flow to the rest of the tank. The MPs willl be much more useful if the flow is directed over and across the rock work. That said, you may want to have more than 3 or 4 inches of clearance in the front of your tank.
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D
So would you reccomend, perhaps, setting one up towards the back of the tank and have that rockwork up closer to the tanks front edge, and then it's opposite have that rockwork closer to the back edge and that MP40 up front? I'd rather get all this settled and 'right', or as right as I can, before any livestock go in. Besides, it gives me something to do while the tank is cycling so I'm not so impatient. :)
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jduck
Correct. You can take one of the pumps and move it toward the front and move the other towards the back so the water will go round and round. But you can change the settings on the pump so they are sync. Without a controller I would just set them on reef crest.
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D
jduck said:
Correct. You can take one of the pumps and move it toward the front and move the other towards the back so the water will go round and round. But you can change the settings on the pump so they are sync. Without a controller I would just set them on reef crest.
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Right now I'm running them on Reef Crest, in synch. Only problem I'll have is finding that 'sweet spot' where they don't make that loud vibrating noise. I have more trouble with one of them than the other, took me 2 days to get it to be fully quiet. Ugh. LOL. Ah well. :)
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M
Danroth said:
So would you reccomend, perhaps, setting one up towards the back of the tank and have that rockwork up closer to the tanks front edge, and then it's opposite have that rockwork closer to the back edge and that MP40 up front? I'd rather get all this settled and 'right', or as right as I can, before any livestock go in. Besides, it gives me something to do while the tank is cycling so I'm not so impatient. :)
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No, I would set them directly opposing one another and try to find the correct rhythm (reef crest, whatever). This way you'll get random flow patterns throughout the tank as the flow will meet in the middle. Or perhaps reef crest creates a "wave" of sorts? I'm unsure as I am not terribly familiar with MPs. Regardless, I would set them both in front of the rock, directly opposing one another. I think it's better to get turbulent/random flow versus circular flow in your tank. A constant flow pattern can lead to flow dead spots and odd growth patterns in your corals.
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